The Penny Sheldon Continuum
by poisongirll
Summary: A series of random short & sweet stories within the Sheldon/Penny relationship. Sequel to The Confusing Dream Conundrum.
1. Chapter 1

If Penny really had to admit it to herself, she was a little surprised at how well things were going. She had been so excited about the new feelings she'd been experiencing that she hadn't fully thought about how a relationship between them would really work. But it turned out that they worked together amazingly well- their contrasting personalities complementing each other in all the right ways. Sure, they'd only been together for a few weeks, but she felt that they were both adjusting well. They still had their time apart-Wednesday was still new comic book and Halo night, an opportunity that Penny often took to go dancing or have drinks with Bernadette and Amy or catch up with other friends. Penny still worked at the Cheesecake Factory some evenings, but was being more proactive about seeking out auditions now that she felt happier in other aspects of her life. Plus Sheldon seemed to have a motivational effect on her, always encouraging her and inspiring her to be the best she could be. But tonight was a Friday, and Sheldon had come over for dinner...she had of course made him the spaghetti with cut up hot dogs that he loved. She knew that eventually she was going to have to perfect cooking other meals, but for now it made them both happy.

They still spent some evenings with the guys, eating takeaway and playing games, and no one seemed to react too strongly to the very subtle indicators that they were a couple. The initial reaction to the news had been slightly hilarious, in Penny's opinion. Raj had as usual been unable to speak in Penny's presence but his face had held an expression of shock that Penny wished she had taken a photo of, and he was too stunned to even whisper frantically in Howard's ear. Howard was in state of disbelief, unable to accept for quite some time that it wasn't a bazinga or one of Sheldon's strange social experiments. Eventually though, they had all come to terms with it, and things were going along pretty much as normal within their little group.

She and Sheldon still spent most of their alone time at Penny's apartment. Leonard was slowly becoming more and more accustomed to their relationship, but Penny hardly wanted to flaunt it in front of him. Sheldon's initial reluctance to spend nights at her apartment were overshadowed by his desire to avoid breaking his own rules about girlfriends in the apartment he shared with Leonard as he had set out in the Roommate Agreement. But to everyone's surprise (and Raj's disapproval), Leonard had just started seeing Raj's sister, Priya. Penny had her fingers crossed that it would work out. Leonard was a sweet guy and a dear friend, and all she wanted was for him to be happy. Like she was. So overall, she and Sheldon's relationship was quite similar to what their friendship had been except that now there was, as Sheldon would say, an "added sexual component". Only there wasn't. Penny was still worried about moving things along too fast and having Sheldon feeling pressured and running away. Though she had to admit that he did seem to be making fairly good progress all on his own...

The cooler temperature of the past couple of weeks meant that it had been perfect weather for spending lazy afternoons and evenings curled up on her couch watching movies and TV series, sometimes watching alertly and other times paying more attention to each other. Sheldon seemed eager to explore these new experiences and pleasures that he had never before been exposed to, sometimes even choosing her over his favourite TV shows (granted though, they were episodes she knew he'd seen multiple times). Astoundingly, he now seemed to be almost comfortable having her close beside him, or even on his lap, and kissing her in that soft sensual way that she loved, his large warm hands hesitantly caressing her waist and hips and starting to venture upwards slightly towards her breasts. It made her simultaneously blush and sigh and desperately want to touch him back. But thus far she'd been very good at demonstrating restraint, her hands roaming his chest and arms and enjoying the positive reaction from him. Penny found that, despite the slight frustration, she was actually enjoying taking things slowly. It was something she hadn't done for a long time, and she loved the charming innocence of it. It made her think of The Beatles song 'I wanna hold your hand', which had always been her favourite of theirs because of the simple and pure sweetness. She had never really had that in real life before, and had always felt a bit like the guy was only with her for one reason. Sheldon was a welcome change to all that.

The two of them had been taking it in turns torturing one another with their movie and television series choices. He had subjected her to a large chunk of the first season of 'Battlestar Galactica', and in return she had made him watch several episodes of 'Desperate Housewives', much to his dismay. But she found that he was getting better at compromise, and funnily enough they found that there were several things that they both enjoyed. Penny had developed a growing obsession with 'Doctor Who', since being forced to watch the first season, they both liked 'The X-Files' (and both agreed to pretend that the last two seasons and the second movie simply did not exist), and Penny adored the 'Harry Potter' movies. Although Sheldon didn't quite share her enthusiasm for the movies, he agreed that it was important to re-watch them all before the final movie was released.

Now they were watching 'Friends' and Penny found her mind wondering, as she had seen the episode several times before. Her head was resting in Sheldon's lap and she was enjoying the closeness and the feel of Sheldon's hand absently stroking her hair, though she doubted he was even aware that he was doing it. She watched the show through pleasantly heavy eyelids. It was the episode where Ross tries to sell the most Girl Guide cookies. She cracked a smile as Monica said "Remember, Dad bought every one of my boxes and I ate them all?" and Ross's response of "Uh, no Mon. Dad _had _to buy every one of your boxes _because _you ate them all". Sheldon looked down at Penny with a bewildered expression.

"Would I be correct in presuming that the humour in the Ross character's statement derives from the fact that the character of Monica used to be overweight?" Sheldon queried, trying to make sense of the sitcom.

Penny giggled, finding his complete lack of knowledge of pop culture kind of adorable.

"Well done! I think you're finally learning something," came Penny's teasing response.

He gave one of his breathy laughs and accepted her playful kiss on his cheek.

A short while later, they both decided it was time for bed. Penny had agreed to play paintball with Sheldon and the guys tomorrow, figuring that it would be a good chance for them to all spend time together. Plus she totally kicked ass at paintball. Sheldon was staying over that night in an effort to be more adaptable. Penny could see that he felt more and more comfortable around her and being in her apartment. She'd been making a special effort to make sure it was clean and free from clutter. Sure, it wasn't a Sheldon level of clean but it was a good start, and he seemed to recognise her efforts to make him feel more at home. Of course, he still needed to make a trip home to brush his teeth, clean his face and change into his Friday pyjamas. She smiled as he returned and crawled into bed beside her, allowing her to snuggle up to him.

"Penny?"

"Mmm?" she replied sleepily, turning her face up towards him.

"This is nice."

She smiled and moved slightly to kiss him.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Penny?"

"Yes, Sheldon?"

"Will you be my ally during the paintball combat tomorrow?"

She laughed again, patting his chest reassuringly.

"Always."

And with that she drifted off to sleep with a faint smile on her lips and The Beatles lyrics once again running through her mind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! More to come soon! Reviews are, as always, love.


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon felt a familiar pulse of dread race through his veins as he started up the engine to Penny's car. He knew it was less illogical than his fear of heights, the operation of a motor vehicle posing a very real risk of injury or death, but it bothered him nonetheless. This time though, he was determined to stick with it until he could drive. It had plagued him for months knowing that, for all his genius, he could not perform such a menial task as driving a car. Knowing how much it troubled him, Penny had offered him her help. He accepted as graciously as he could, on the condition that he had her car serviced beforehand, which she had of course agreed to. Now he was sitting behind the wheel, having adjusted his seat and mirrors to the appropriate positions, his hands nervously tapping the steering wheel. Penny reached across and placed a calming hand on his thigh.

"You'll be fine, sweetie," she reassured him. "Just take a deep breath."

He followed her advice and put on the indicator, preparing to pull out of the parking spot outside their apartment building. Managing to successfully enter the traffic, Sheldon attempted to get his anxiety under control as he struggled to bring the vehicle up to the speed limit. Penny instructed him calmly from the passenger side, and for awhile things were actually going along okay. Until Sheldon saw the ambulance behind him in his lane, and started to panic. Trying to focus on the road, the speed of the car and the rearview mirror suddenly became all too much and he seemed to lose the concentration he had been working so hard to maintain.

"Okay don't panic," came Penny's voice from beside him. "Just pull over to the right where you can so we can let them past."

"Don't panic?" Sheldon replied loudly. "But I could be impeding a life saving mission, Penny, it's a lot of pressure," he exclaimed in panicked tones.

"I know honey, but you need to try to stay ca…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because before either of them knew what was happening, Sheldon had swerved the car into the adjacent lane without indicating or even sufficiently checking that the lane was clear and jerked the car to a violent stop in front of a red traffic light as the ambulance sped past them in the other lane. The car directly behind them slammed on the breaks with a loud squeal and honked loudly several times.

"Sheldon, what the hell is wrong with you? I said pull over to the right not swerve into the left! You could have gotten us killed!" Penny exclaimed, turning eyes full of anger and adrenaline on him.

He paused for a fraction of a moment then, before Penny could do a damn thing about it, pulled the hand brake on, unbuckled his belt and raced out of the car. Penny stared after him in shock for a fraction of a moment, before realising that there was now no one in the driver's seat and hastily scrambling out of the passenger seat into it. She cursed under her breath and when the light turned green took off as quickly and aggressively as possible in her anger.

Sheldon regretted his actions almost as soon as he got out of the car, least of which because the driver of the car behind Penny's car was still yelling and honking their horn. He fled back to his apartment as quickly as possible, closing the door behind him and leaning against it heavily. To his relief, Leonard wasn't there to ask questions. He stayed at the door for a moment, a sinking feeling in his chest now that he had escaped the panic of the car. Penny had tried to help him and he'd let her down…and hadn't just let her down but had endangered them both. And then she had yelled at him. He hated it when people yelled at him, and he knew it was part of the reason that he had had to get out of the car, but he also realised that he had probably deserved it.

He knew that Penny wouldn't want to take him for driving practice again now and he didn't blame her, but he wished he knew why he found the task so difficult. He headed for his computer desk, deciding that perhaps the internet would once again hold the key to the knowledge he sought. He frowned as he reached his desk, and remembered that he had left his laptop at Penny's apartment. They had been playing 'Age of Conan' together the night before and he had been…otherwise distracted when they wrapped the game up and gone to bed.

Sheldon found his spare key to Penny's apartment and went over, knowing Penny well enough to suspect that she would be out for awhile driving off the anger. His laptop was on her lounge room coffee table where he had left it, and he picked it up and went to go back to his apartment. Only the table was a little cluttered- there was some paperwork and the mugs that they had drunk their tea out of the night before. He knew that Penny didn't like it when he cleaned her apartment, but it couldn't hurt to tidy it up just a little bit, right? He set the laptop back down on the table, picked up the mugs and washed them in the kitchen that was surprisingly clean these days. He dried them and put them away carefully in the appropriate cupboard, then picked up a few pieces of paperwork and moved them to the kitchen island where there was a neat stack of similar miscellaneous things.

He was just about to take his laptop and go when he saw some words on one of the pieces of paper that caught his eye. Something about physics. He frowned, wondering what Penny would be doing with a paper that had anything to do with physics. Sheldon normally had no trouble with minding his own business, desiring that others would show him the same courtesy, but this time his curiosity got the better of him. He picked up what appeared to be a workbook or information book of some kind and read the title: Introductory Physics. It was a course profile published by Pasadena City College. Penny was taking a physics class? Underneath that was a notebook with scrawl that he recognised immediately as Penny's. The notes were about basic scientific concepts that he had learnt long long ago but that he knew still flabbergasted most people. From what he briefly read, she seemed to have found ways to note take in terms that she would understand, and seemed to have a much better grasp on the concepts then she had when he had attempted to explain them to her.

Sheldon didn't know how to react. He felt quite shocked- not because he didn't think Penny was smart enough to understand, but because he had always assumed that she wasn't really all that interested in what he did. But perhaps now that their relationship had become something more than friendship she felt that she needed to know more about the thing that encompassed so much of his life. He was struck, not for the first time, by how important he was to her. He didn't quite know how to feel about that, but the thought caused a strange surge to rush through him of something akin to affection towards her. Only it was somehow stronger, different, new.

But before he could ponder the situation further, Penny entered the apartment and gave him a quiet greeting, seemingly not surprised to see him there. Sheldon turned and stared at her for a moment. He wanted to tell her that he was proud of her and at the same time that she didn't need to learn physics to be with him. Instead he said nothing, deciding to keep his discovery to himself. After all, if she had wanted him to know she would have told him herself.

"I…just came over to collect my laptop," he explained awkwardly and cleared his throat, hoping that she was slightly less angry now. Her expression was hard to read- she didn't look furious but she didn't exactly look happy either. Sheldon wasn't sure whether to stay and try to talk, or if she was in the kind of mood where that would only serve to make things worse. He decided though that he had better at least give it a try.

"I'm sorry about the driving lesson, Penny. I panicked and I let it get the better of me. I hope that you will accept my apology that I put you at risk of being involved in an accident," he told her sincerely but nervously, unsure as to whether an apology would be enough in this case.

He lowered his eyes and stared intently at his shoes as he said the next part.

"I feel terrible. And I honestly don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to you."

Penny sighed deeply, and the remainder of her anger seemed to dissipate with the breath out. Why did a genuine apology from Sheldon always seem to have that effect on her?

"Hey," she said softly, tilting his chin up so that she could meet his eyes. "I know that you didn't mean to do it. You panicked, it happens. You just need to be more careful."

She paused.

"And I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know it's not easy for you so I shouldn't have gotten so angry, but I just kind of freaked out."

"I suppose we both did that," Sheldon replied quietly.

"Well, I forgive you," she said in a brighter tone. "Now let's go get some lunch. But I'm driving this time," she added with a grin.

Sheldon followed her out the door, laptop once again forgotten, the strange warm feeling of something stronger than affection still running through him pleasantly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Would love to hear what you thought :)

Also- I live in Australia and don't understand US road rules so please forgive me if it's not quite right! :P


	3. Chapter 3

Penny was dying. Or at least that was how it felt. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, her nose like a faucet and her eyes like someone had slipped her acid eye drops without her noticing until now. Today she was meant to do a shift at the cheesecake factory, go to an audition then go out for dinner with Sheldon, but as she lay in bed, feeling worse with every passing minute, she slowly resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to make it to any of those things. She desperately hoped that she could reschedule the audition, since it was one she really wanted to go for. And she was going to have to tell Sheldon that dinner was off. She decided that she would send him a text, knowing that his phobia of germs would just make her feel worse. Having sent the text, she called work to give them the bad news then made a call to Michael about the audition, who was, to her immense relief, able to reorganise for a few days time. She had just gotten off the phone when she heard a knock on the front door. Wrapping herself in the blanket on her bed, she dragged her aching body out to the living room, really not wanting to be seen by anyone in her current state. It took a lot more effort to open the door than it should have, and her head pounded impatiently as she pulled it open to see...Sheldon?

"What are you doing here? I'm sick- you don't want to be around me. That's why I sent you the text," she said in her muffled voice, backing away from him.  
>"Get back into bed, Penny," he instructed in a firm tone of voice. "I'll make you some tea."<br>Penny just stared for a moment.  
>"Didn't you hear me? I'm <em>sick,<em> Sheldon. You know- _germs_."  
>His resolved expression faltered only for a fraction of a second.<br>"I heard you. Get back into bed."  
>Penny gave him a strange look but did as he'd requested, glad to no longer have to maintain an upright position.<br>A few moments later she heard Sheldon busying himself in the kitchen, presumably making tea, and wondered what he was thinking. She hadn't expected to see him for days, or at least until she was fully recovered. She had long since accepted this about him and it no longer really bothered her, so it was confusing to have him changing the rules on her again.

He entered her room several minutes later carrying a small tray containing a few items, which he set down with care on her bedside table. He then adjusted the pillows behind Penny's head so that she could sit up comfortably, all the while ignoring her bemused expression.  
>"Drink this," he told her, carefully handing her a hot mug of liquid. "It will make you feel better. It's a blend of tea that memaw always made for me when I was unwell as a child."<br>Penny smiled through the heavy fog inside her head and accepted the offering.  
>"Shouldn't you be at work, sweetie?" she queried, glancing at the alarm clock beside her bed and noticing that it was past the time that he normally left with Leonard.<br>"Don't worry about that, Penny. I doubt anyone will object to me taking a day off, since I do so very rarely," he assured her seriously.  
>"But you have important stuff to do," Penny said, having promised herself long ago that she would never come between Sheldon and his work.<br>"Whilst that is of course true, it doesn't change the fact that you're also important," he replied in his usual practical tone of voice, adjusting the blankets to cover her. "Now drink your tea."

Penny's heart melted right then and there, and she was horrified to find that her eyes seemed to be welling up with tears that had nothing to do with her cold. It was amazing how incredibly sweet he could be without even knowing it. She cleared her throat.

"And you do realise that there's a possibility that you could get sick too?"

Sheldon nodded.

"I am aware. However, I've been reading more and more research papers that provide evidence that the more one is exposed to germs, the greater one's immune system becomes, therefore lessoning the chances of contracting a virus."

"Well thank you. I really appreciate having you here to look after me."

She took a sip of her tea, pleasantly surprised by the sweet taste of honey mixed in with the strange herbal undertones.

"You're welcome, Penny," he replied quietly, gently brushing some hair from her face.

Then he cleared his throat and turned to the other items he had on the tray. He reached for a packet of Tylenol and popped two out of the foil, taking back the tea and handing her the pills and a glass of water. She smiled gratefully and swallowed them down, then lay back on the pillows.

"Do you have a fever?"

"I'm not sure. I feel pretty cold though even under these blankets," she admitted with a slight shiver.

He placed a cool hand to her forehead and she couldn't help but smile at how adorable he was when he was being all serious and doctor-like.

"You certainly feel like you're burning up, so to speak. Do you have a thermometer?"

Penny shrugged.

"Maybe in the bathroom somewhere?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes.

"I'll go and retrieve the necessary supplies from my extensive collection. I'll be right back."

She nodded, snuggling under the covers.

He returned a few minutes later with an assortment of medicines and other medical paraphernalia, putting them all down beside the other things on her bedside table. He selected the digital thermometer, turned it on, and told her to put the end under her arm. She noticed but didn't say anything about the slight blush that tinted his cheeks as she unbuttoned her pyjama top. Awhile ago it would have been more than a slight blush, she thought. She shivered more as they waited for the beep of the thermometer, and Sheldon seemed to fight the urge to cover her with the blankets again. Hearing the beep, he took the thermometer back and read the display.

"One hundred and two degrees Fahrenheit, it's quite high. The Tylenol will help with that, but you should really take a cool shower to get your core body temperature back down to an acceptable level."

"But Sheldonnnn…" she whined, feeling far too ill to want to stand for any amount of time.

"I'll help you," he offered, reaching for her arm to encourage her out of bed.

She pouted, but eventually allowed herself to be led to the bathroom where she started to undress whilst Sheldon adjusted the water in the shower to the correct temperature.

"You know, this isn't how I imagined you first seeing me naked," she said with a note of humour in her voice, suddenly feeling slightly self-conscious.

He turned to her with something approaching a cheeky grin.

"I've already seen you naked, if you recall."

She cracked a smile at that, remembering how he had helped her when she had dislocated her shoulder all those years ago, and had told her that "the hero always peeks".

"That doesn't count," she replied teasingly, accepting the hand he offered to help her get into the shower.

"I see that you've finally taken my advice about the adhesive stickers for your bathtub," he commented lightly.

"Hmm yeah, I learnt my lesson about that."

And then he brushed her side lightly as she climbed in to get under the water, and she gasped at the slightly electric feel of his fingers against her skin. She met his eyes, seeing a flash of the same feeling in them, and then they both looked away. Another shiver ran through her and she wasn't entirely sure if it was the effect of the cool water, or something else entirely. She suddenly wished even more that she wasn't sick because, despite the foggy head and congestion, she couldn't quite remember ever wanting to kiss someone more than she did right now. She let out a tiny sigh and tried to relax under the water.

After a short while, Sheldon was satisfied that they had lowered her temperature enough, and helped her step out onto the bathmat, wrapping her in a large towel. She trembled violently, and he held her close to him for a moment, trying to stop the shaking.

"Let's get you back into bed," he said softly, leading her back towards the bedroom.

He managed to find a clean pair of pyjamas from within the chaos that was her chest of drawers. When she was dressed, he helped her into bed and perched on the side of the mattress, pulling one of the lighter blankets up around her so that she wouldn't overheat again. She smiled sleepily.

"You should try to sleep. Rest will help your body to recuperate and fight the virus more quickly and efficiently."

"Will you sing 'soft kitty' to me?"

He smiled and nodded then started to sing the song that they had shared so many times throughout their friendship. Penny was almost asleep before the end of it. He considered her for another moment, then carefully got up and left the room, deciding to make chicken soup for when she awoke. As he headed towards the kitchen, he absently wondered how someone who was sick could still look so beautiful.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Reviews make me happy :)


	4. Chapter 4

Penny glared at Sheldon.

"What would you know anyway? You've never had a dream or a purpose in life. And you expect me to be the same" she spat out harshly.

But her words seemed to slide over him, his face holding an expression of grim determination.

"Just because I don't live with my head in the clouds it doesn't mean that I don't care about anything"

"Well you certainly don't care about me."

Her words were strong, fervent, and they seemed to hit home this time.

"How can you not see that you're _all _I care about?" he asked with a desperate frustration that bordered on fierce.

And then they were kissing- hands all over each other, eager with need and desperation. They didn't pull apart until air became an absolute necessity. She watched him with eyes that were still ablaze with fervor as she attempted to catch her breath.

"And that's the end of the scene," she said, looking down at the script that she had thrown onto the couch during their kiss.

Penny was certainly starting to see the fun side of having her boyfriend rehearse scenes for an audition with her. She smiled up at him coyly, the zeal in her expression no longer an act, and stretched up on her toes to kiss him tenderly on the lips.

She was going for a second audition for a small role in a science fiction movie that her friend Michael had originally set up for her. When she had recovered from her flu, she had gone along to the audition and had totally aced it. For some reason though, she had still been surprised to get a call back. She always was, no matter how well she had thought it had gone and despite receiving many call backs in her time as an actress. Though this role was quite small, the character still had a few important scenes, and this was one of several that they might want her to perform during the audition tomorrow. Sheldon had offered to help her rehearse, even though she knew it was new comic book day. She was a little astounded, asking repeatedly if he was sure, but he had seemed quite definite in his answer each time. She graciously accepted his help and promised that they would go over and play Halo with the guys as soon as they were finished.

She deepened the kiss slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling his long slender hands tracing her spine and eventually finding their place in the tangle of her hair. She sighed contentedly and pushed him slowly backwards until his legs met the couch, forcing him to sink onto the cushion. Penny arranged herself on top of him, a leg on either side of his hips and continued the soft, sensual play of lips and tongues as their hands caressed each other's bodies. She loved the sensation of his gentle yet passionate touch; the reactions from him that never failed to make her heart race. And she couldn't help but notice that there was one particularly encouraging reaction happening right now. She smiled slightly into his kiss and moved against him just the tiniest bit, enjoying the sensation of his hardness pressed up against her. His hands had made their way to the small of her back and were hesitantly moving the fabric of her sweatshirt to touch the sensitive skin beneath.

Taking this as a sign that he was okay, she slowly reached down to rub him gently, and felt him pause momentarily from kissing her before reaching up to caress one of her breasts through her clothing. His other hand moved to her hip, the tips of his fingers disappearing slightly into the waistband of her shorts and stroking the skin there. She moaned faintly, her mind racing almost as fast as her heart. It was somehow surreal to have his hands on her like this but, damn, did it feel good. She continued to stroke him gently- not too fast, not too slow- taking his fractionally more intense kissing as a sign that he was also enjoying what was happening. She moved her hands upwards, reaching for the two layers of his shirts, urgently wanting to feel more of his skin, when suddenly a loud knock sounded on her front door. She felt Sheldon jump ever so slightly in surprise beneath her, and she could have screamed with frustration at the interruption. Penny pulled away from him slowly, desperately not wanting the moment to end. Another knock.

"Penny, I believe that there is someone at your front door," he said quickly, and cleared his throat.

She rolled her eyes at his stating of the obvious and carefully moved herself off him to answer the door. She straightened out her clothing quickly, and glanced at Sheldon awkwardly doing the same to his shirts and moving on the couch, unsure of what to do with his limbs, before finally settling on crossing his legs. She opened the door halfway to find Howard standing there, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

"I hope I'm not…interrupting anything," he said with a suggestive raise of one eyebrow that indicated that he did in fact hope that he was interrupting something. "But I wanted to let you know that we're about to start the game so head on over as soon as you're not, uh, busy."

He tried to look past her into the apartment, and Penny wondered what he could possibly be hoping to see.

"Okay, thanks Howard, we'll be right over," she replied impatiently with a tight smile, all but shutting the door in his face.

She turned back to Sheldon with a sigh.

"We're wanted next door."

Sheldon nodded and stood, seemingly far less uncomfortable in his own skin than he had been a few moments ago.

"And you are quite sure that you feel adequately prepared for your audition tomorrow?" he queried.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm feeling pretty confident," she replied, turning to leave the apartment and head over to 4A.

But before she opened the door again, he caught her arm gently.

"Penny?"

She turned to him, taking in the way his hands were suddenly fiddling and the way his eyes couldn't quite look at her. She waited patiently, having long since learnt that this was the best way to deal with him when he needed to talk about something that made him uncomfortable.

"I…" he stopped. Cleared his throat. Started again.

"If you…get the part tomorrow…does that mean that you're going to be spending a lot of time…" he paused again, his cheeks flushing bright red, "kissing someone else?"

She froze momentarily, not expecting this.

"Sheldon honey, are you…jealous?" she asked uncertainly.

He scoffed, suddenly looking like himself once again.

"Jealously is a useless emotion and one that I certainly never wish to partake in. It's…"

She interrupted his speech with another kiss.

"It's okay," she said, her arms snaking around his neck again in that way they loved to do. "It's kind of sweet, actually. But I promise you that you have absolutely no reason to be worried. That's all just pretend. You're the only one I want."

Penny could tell that he was torn between arguing his point and accepting her heartfelt words, but eventually he smiled in spite of himself.

"I feel the same way about you, Penny," he told her in the same quiet, shy, and slightly awkward tone of voice that he always used when it came to anything emotional between the two of them. She found that she didn't mind. That, in fact, she found it quite endearing. She smiled back at him and headed towards the door.

"We'd better get over there…wouldn't want to guys to have to wait for me to kick their asses."

Sheldon gave his breathy laugh and followed her- glad, not for the first time, that she was on his side.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm back at uni now and drowning in the six billion novels I have to read this semester, so please bear with me as I will update again as soon as I can :-) This fic is designed to be a series of short stand alone stories, but will progress and work up to a conclusion eventually. Would love to know your thoughts thus far as I'm not feeling this one as much as it's predecessor so any feedback would be helpful :-) Thanks for reading so far!


End file.
